Replace the tape with magnets to hold the display like older models

Well as the tittle says if you have plans to upgrade your iMac slim edge or just like to tinker with it and want to have easy access to its internals it is possible to use magnets and have it like the older models.

All you need is some neodymium magnets - I used about 6 or 8 size 20mm/10mm/2mm - a strong 2 sided tape and a rigid plastic card (can be expired credit card, unused rewards card, whatever as long as it is plastic and rigid).

Oh and this grey styrofoam-like thing I don't know what's called.

Here we go assuming you already went through the display removal process in this guide:

-Attach the magnets on top of the case which is the only part of the display with metal (picture shows 6 but I think I added 2 more later on):

-Cut the plastic card in 2 halves and attach at the bottom of the display:

Then there will be a gap between the card and the case which you don't want to fill with something rigid that will prevent some wiggling necessary to open/close the thing neither will it be a good idea to use something too soft or it will get loose and you will want a tight fit.

I used a 3mm height/5mm wide strip of this grey foam attached with a thin 2 sided tape along the plastic card and it worked exactly as I needed - but your mileage may vary depending on the material you use.

And that's it! Now you'll be able to open and close the computer using suction cups like the old 2009-2011 models :D

Click on “Repair Guides” at the top of this page, then in the top right corner click on “Create a Guide”. Brilliant solution, I'm scratching my head on why Apple didn't go this route when designing these.

For one that display is REALLY fragile! You don't even need to mishandle it - it'll break on its own!

So much so that authorised repairers don't want to work on those machines as they can have a $1000 bill for a display that wasn't the issue to begin with.

And Google said there were a shortage of those displays some 3 or 4 years ago so I assume it's due to its fragile nature…

But also Apple obviously don't want people buying the basic specs machines then buying the parts to upgrade it later on - which is what I always do when I buy my iMacs.

About the guide well… it ain't really a guide so I guess I'll leave as it is specially since I can't recommend other people to do this as they can break something and it will get VERY expensive to fix - IF they find someone willing to fix it…